Chapter 51
At first, seeing the piles of books the staff were carrying made Nina worry—they looked quite heavy—but that concern was quickly resolved.
The fake security guards, who were rifling through magazines with red stickers on them, took Nina’s books on her behalf.
“Thanks, sirs.”
“Hahaha, it’s nothing….”
While the fake security guards puffed up their chests proudly, Messi muttered with a sigh.
“No need to thank them. They’re just doing that to sneak in those red magazines.”
“What are red magazines?”
Nina asked, but Messi avoided answering, pretending to look at a children’s storybook titled The Northern Duke.
“Uh? What are red magazines?”
Finally, Nina looked at the fake security guards, but they all suddenly acted busy, avoiding her question.
‘What’s this? Some kind of secret organizational document?’
In the end, Nina decided she would ask someone else later.
Amid the silent procession, the group next arrived at a place unfamiliar to Nina: an animal café.
‘A place that sells animal-shaped desserts?’
Thinking vaguely so, Nina’s eyes widened as soon as she entered the café.
“Wow…!”
Inside, in the charmingly decorated space, fluffy cats were lounging and napping everywhere.
On the terrace beyond the fenced door, various breeds of puppies scurried around playfully.
Nina couldn’t compose herself for a moment.
She had seen the cats her mother kept, but this was her first time seeing so many different cats up close.
The same went for the puppies.
“I’ve really never seen a puppy before.”
“Really? Then let’s start with them.”
Messi took Nina’s hand, still dazed, and led her to the terrace.
As soon as they entered the terrace, the puppies wagged their tails and ran straight toward them.
Nina, caught off guard, plopped down on the grass and hugged the puppy that leaped toward her.
The puppy, nuzzling into her, sparkled its eyes and licked Nina’s cheek.
Giggling, she exclaimed,
“Ticklish…!”
“They’re all so nice.”
Messi, sitting opposite Nina, was already nearly buried under several puppies.
Watching Messi rolling around with the puppies struck Nina as strangely fascinating, so she teasingly said,
“Looks like they really like you, Messi.”
“Do they? Nina, do you prefer cats or dogs?”
Nina paused at the unexpected question.
She liked both cats and dogs equally, but if she had to choose…
“Dogs.”
“Really? That’s good.”
“What’s good about it?”
“Just… I like them too. Hey, you guys, go play somewhere else for a bit.”
Messi smiled at Nina, then got up to avoid the puppies clinging to him.
Immediately, the puppies all turned and ran toward Nina instead.
She was quickly buried under the fluffballs, rolling on the ground.
“Eek!”
Günter, who had been giving treats to the cats on the cat tower, startled and rushed out to the terrace.
The cats, frightened by the sudden movement, puffed up their fur and swarmed toward Günter’s companions.
The fake security team, secretly giggling while looking at the smuggled magazines, panicked.
“Oh my goodness!”
“I—I’m allergic to cats… Ahem, ahem!”
Amid the sudden chaos, Nina poked her head out from the pile of fluffballs.
“The sirs seem to be having fun too.”
“Yeah, they look really excited, right?”
Messi, nodding kindly, shot the fake security team a look of utter disdain.
After Günter scratched his head and went back inside, a staff member appeared and placed two glasses of juice and dog biscuits on a table on the terrace.
While Nina played with the puppies and fed them biscuits, Messi sat aside, speed-reading The Northern Duke is My Dad.
Even considering it was a thin storybook, his pace was impressively fast.
*Once upon a time, in an ordinary village, there lived a girl.
She had ordinary parents and ordinary neighbors.
The girl, who grew up ordinarily, was always lonely.
For some reason, no one wanted to play with her anymore.
Because she had no friends, she always had to play alone.
Then, one day, an unexpected message came to her.
It turned out the girl’s parents were not her real parents.
The girl was the hidden child of a high-ranking noble.
Her real parents had entrusted her to her current parents to protect her.
And from now on, she would live with her real parents.
The girl, who had always been lonely, was overjoyed.
Her real parents lived in a huge winter castle in the snowy north.
Her father was the Duke of the North.
Soon, the girl rode in a splendid carriage toward her real home, dreaming sweetly of her real parents’ faces.
When she finally arrived at the winter castle, her parents welcomed her with open arms.
“Come, our daughter. We have awaited this day.”
The girl was astonished.
Her real father and mother were far more beautiful than she had imagined.
The castle itself was much bigger and more splendid than she had imagined.
Everyone inside welcomed her warmly.
“Your name is now Raika.”
The girl’s name was changed.
Suddenly a princess, the girl felt as if she were dreaming.
From now on, she would no longer have to survive on hard black bread and potatoes.
She wouldn’t have to wear patched-up clothes all year.
Instead, she would eat soft white bread and meat daily and wear pretty silk dresses every day.
The girl was very happy.
Making friends was still difficult, but it didn’t matter.
She wasn’t lonely thanks to the love of her parents.
Although they were busy, her parents never forgot to visit her daily.
The girl, too, tried her best to be the best daughter.
One day, she overheard the maids talking.
“They say there’s a child locked up right next door.”
It seemed someone was locked up in the room right across from her own.
It was a strange rumor.
There were no other rooms beside hers.
As night fell, her parents visited her room as usual.
“How have you been, our daughter?”
“Your father brought you a gift today.”
Her father brought gifts every day.
Today, he gave her an expensive doll she had wanted.
Her mother combed her hair and read her favorite storybook.
The girl was very happy.
Though she felt as if someone was watching from beyond the wall.
She wanted to ask her parents about the rumor.
But…*
Messi suddenly put the book down and pressed his forehead with the back of his hand.
A strange shadow fell across his eyes beneath the silver lashes.
“Raika….”
Just then, Nina, having thrown the last biscuit to the puppies, approached Messi.
“What’s wrong? Finished reading?”
“Not yet. But it’s kind of eerie for a children’s story. Katya said it’s fun, so I thought maybe… and yep, it’s just her type.”
“It’s a bit scary in the middle, right? Still, it’s super popular these days.”
Nina added sheepishly. Messi glanced at her briefly, then lowered his gaze again.
“How does it end? Was there really someone next to the protagonist’s room?”
Messi seemed unable to read further.
Nina, judging this, nodded.
“Yes. There was a monster with the same name as the protagonist hiding there. Every day it was spying on the protagonist through a hole in the wall.”
“How…?”
